Wills World Series, 1994-95

Sandwiched between matches in an India v West Indies one-day series, a triangular tournament provided India with further success and an enormous popular hit. The third side were New Zealand, who were en route for South Africa. Teams wore coloured clothing (the bilateral series continued in whites) and the competition culminated in a floodlit extravaganza at Calcutta. An enthusiastic audience, estimated at close to 100,000, watched India defeat West Indies. But large crowds assembled even at matches not involving the home team.

India added this title to the Singer Trophy they had won in Sri Lanka in September. They lost only once, to West Indies in controversial circumstances. Manoj Prabhakar, who scored a century, and Nayan Mongia were accused of not making an effort to win the match after stonewalling throughout the closing stages of the run-chase. The Indian authorities dropped the players, and referee Raman Subba Row went further, docking the team two points for not playing in the spirit of the game (it was thought that West Indies were India's preferred opponents for the final). India protested to ICC, who ruled that the referee had exceeded his authority. Subba Row also suspended West Indian vice-captain Brian Lara for one game, for arguing with an umpire, who he thought should have asked for a video replay before giving him out stumped. New Zealand did not record a win in four matches, though they were unlucky to be rained off after dismissing West Indies cheaply in their opening fixture.

Note: Matches in this section were not first-class.

Match reports for

1st Match: India v West Indies at Chennai, Oct 23, 1994
Report | Scorecard

2nd Match: New Zealand v West Indies at Margao, Oct 26, 1994
Report | Scorecard

3rd Match: India v New Zealand at Vadodara, Oct 28, 1994
Report | Scorecard

4th Match: India v West Indies at Kanpur, Oct 30, 1994
Report | Scorecard

5th Match: New Zealand v West Indies at Guwahati, Nov 1, 1994
Report | Scorecard

6th Match: India v New Zealand at Delhi, Nov 3, 1994
Report | Scorecard

Final: India v West Indies at Eden Gardens, Nov 5, 1994
Report | Scorecard